Jordan Reed lost his grip on a day when the Gators lost theirs.
Cruising through a resurgent second season under coach Will Muschamp, Florida headed to Jacksonville undefeated at 7-0 and ranked second behind Alabama in the BCS standings.
Muschamp had UF in play for its third crystal football in seven seasons thanks to a renewed focus on dominating the ground game, playing tough defense and winning the turnover battle.
But in Florida’s tightest contest of the season, they came unraveled.
Six of the Gators’ 15 turnovers in 2012 ended up in the hands of Bulldogs. Meanwhile, Georgia controlled the ground game on the strength of Todd Gurley’s 118 rushing yards on 27 carries.
Gurley was the only player to eclipse the 100-yard mark against the nation’s fourth-ranked rushing defense in 2012. Florida’s other 12 opponents averaged only 93.8 yards on the ground.
On the other side of the ball, the Gators’ stout running game faltered.
Mike Gillislee, who entered the game ranked fourth in the Southeastern Conference with 652 rushing yards in seven games, tallied only 77 yards on 22 carries. The rest of Florida’s offense lost two yards on the ground, a number hurt by five sacks that cost the Gators 40 yards.
Still, Florida had a chance.
Trailing 17-9 with 2:21 remaining, quarterback Jeff Driskel found the sure hands of his most reliable pass-catcher in one-on-one coverage at the 16-yard line. Reed, who fumbled just once in his final two seasons at UF, caught the pass, broke a tackle and set his sights on the end zone.
Once he reached the 5-yard line, he went airborne. Reed landed at the 1, but the ball kept going.
That one fumble.
Reed lay where he landed, staring into the black sky. In a game full of mistakes, his was last.
His was final.
But Reed did not lose the game alone.
Florida’s final scoring chance seemed, if anything, fortunate. The Gators did not play well enough to win. They had not played Muschamp’s brand of football.
And it cost them not only that one game, but also their most important goal: the Southeastern Conference Championship Game in Atlanta.
Maybe even more.
“That was the one loss that separated us from going to SEC Championship, getting to play in the national championship,” linebacker Michael Taylor said. “That’s the one thing that stood in between us and all those goals. So we owe them some payback. Saturday will be interesting.”
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Great rivalries have transcendent elements. For Florida-Georgia, it is crossing the Hart Bridge.
“There’s no question that when you come over that bridge, it charges you up,” Muschamp said in 2011, prior to his first game in the rivalry as Florida’s coach. “I get goose bumps talking about it.”
Muschamp, who played at UGA from 1991 to 1994, has crossed the bridge representing both teams.
After growing up in Gainesville and rooting for the Gators, Muschamp and his family moved to Rome, Ga.
A broken leg suffered during his senior year at Rome Darlington School deterred recruiters. He ended up walking on at Georgia, trading in his orange and blue for red and black.
“He just willed it in his mind that he was going to play for us,” former Bulldogs defensive coordinator Richard Bell said. “All those intangibles that are so necessary to have to take your talent to another level, he possessed.”
Muschamp endeared himself to the coaching staff through his hard work. Bell, who coached at Georgia from 1989 to 1993, used to tease Muschamp leading up to the rivalry game each season.
“I knew he had a Gator background,” Bell said. “I would kid him about, ‘What’s going to happen?’ And he would say, ‘Coach, I’m a ‘Dawg now.’”
But the fun always ended once he crossed the Hart Bridge.
Five times Muschamp has left Jacksonville a loser in the Florida-Georgia rivalry. He suffered a sixth loss when the Bulldogs fell to the Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in 1994.
Muschamp said his two coaching losses sting more, but he didn’t discount his younger self’s misery.
“None of it is fun,” he said.
Especially when the game doesn’t break your way. Like 2012. And 1993.
During Muschamp’s junior year, Georgia had a chance to upend Steve Spurrier and Florida.
With Muschamp in the secondary, the Bulldogs limited the Gators to a season-low 142 passing yards on a rain-soaked day.
“It rained and rained and rained,” Bell recalled.
But on the strength of 183 rushing yards from Errict Rhett, Florida carried a 33-26 lead into the game’s final minutes. After a 26-24 loss in 1992, it was again a one-score game.
Again, Georgia had a chance.
With five seconds remaining on the clock, Bulldogs quarterback Eric Zeier found Jerry Jerman in the end zone for what appeared to be the game-tying touchdown.
But Gators cornerback Anthone Lott called a timeout just before the ball was snapped.
Georgia ended up getting two more chances. Lott committed pass interference on the next play, and Zeier’s last attempt fell incomplete, dealing Muschamp the third of four losses.
All he could do was watch.
“We felt like we sure had a chance to win,” Bell said. “It depends on who you talk to, whether you’re talking to a Georgia guy or a Florida gal on that timeout. It was a heck of a game, I know that. We had a heartbreaker from the year before in ‘92. They were good; we were good.
“Two good ball games that we felt like we could have won. Unfortunately, we didn’t. That’s this series. It continues to be as far as a rivalry is concerned.”
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What was once known as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” is now the “World’s Largest Outdoor Pity Party.” The injury bug has taken a toll on both the championship stakes and the NFL talent usually on display in the Florida-Georgia rivalry.
For just the second time since 1979, both Florida and Georgia enter Saturday’s game unranked. Each is also currently mired in a two-game losing streak and risks slipping out of contention in the SEC Eastern Division with another defeat.
Injuries to critical players on either side of the rivalry have contributed to the sudden mediocrity.
Gurley, who shredded Florida’s defense as a freshman, missed three games this season after suffering a sprained ankle in the first half against LSU on Sept. 28. The Bulldogs lost two of the three games during his absence and had to escape with an overtime victory against Tennessee in the other.
Malcolm Mitchell, Justin Scott-Wesley and Keith Marshall, three cogs in Georgia’s offense, are out for the season after each suffered ACL tears during the season.
“We’re not feeling sorry for ourselves,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “I doubt Florida is feeling sorry for themselves.”
But the Gators have felt similar pain.
Florida is without starting quarterback Jeff Driskel, who suffered a season-ending fracture of his fibula against Tennessee on Sept. 21. Also done for the year is Matt Jones, who was UF’s leading rusher when he suffered a torn meniscus against LSU on Oct. 12, and Dominique Easley, the anchor of the defensive line. In total, the Gators have lost eight players, including five starters, for the season.
“It’s part of the game,” Muschamp said. “Injuries are a part of it. You strap up with who you have and you move forward.”
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Much like other coaches around the country, Muschamp has steadfastly refused the thought of one game being more important than the rest.
“I hate to give you the boring answer,” he said, “but I don’t approach this one any different than the other ones.”
But for him to truly move forward while at Florida, beating Georgia is a critical step.
His three predecessors — Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook and Urban Meyer — kept the rivalry on a short leash, going 18-3 against the Bulldogs from 1990-2010.
Muschamp has been vocal about expecting to enjoy similar success.
“It’s not going to be a long winning streak, I can assure you,” he told reporters prior to a Gator Gathering at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds during the offseason. “We feel very comfortable.”
But finding the success he has spoken about has proven difficult, and he might begin to feel less comfortable if another loss compounds an already disappointing season for the Gators.
“Georgia is always the biggest game of the year, no matter how good we are or how good they are,” Trey Burton said. “That’s always a big one for us.”
Even with SEC title implications on the back burner, the rivalry remains heated. In a battle between neighboring states, the close proximity keeps it that way.
Michael Taylor wants to win this one for his mother, an Atlanta native.
She told him, “Y’all have to beat them this year because I don’t want to have to hear about it from supervisors, because all the supervisors went to Georgia.”
Taylor hopes to give his mother bragging rights at the water cooler.
“I have even more motivation to win this game,” he said, “so my mom ain’t got to hear about it for the next 365 days of the year.”
Muschamp has been on both sides of the rivalry.
He knows how it feels as a Bulldog. He knows how it feels as a Gator.
Now, he wants to know what it feels like as a winner.
“It’s a critical game for us, obviously being a great rival with the University of Florida and a great rivalry game,” Muschamp said. “It’s one of the best college football games, year in, year out, to be a part of.”
Follow Phillip Heilman on Twitter @phillip_heilman. Follow Joe Morgan on Twitter @joe_morgan.
Will Muschamp watches from the sideline during Florida’s 17-6 loss to LSU on Oct. 12 in Baton Rouge, La.
Former Florida tight end Jordan Reed (11) fumbles on Georgia’s 5-yard line late in the fourth quarter during the Gators’ 17-9 loss to the Bulldogs on Oct. 27, 2012, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville. Georgia has won the past two meetings in the series.
